Immunology

About the Immunology Program

The Immunology Program has 21 members from departments in the University of Minnesota Medical School, the College of Veterinary Medicine, and the College of Science and Engineering.

The scientific goal of the Immunology Program is to define the basic mechanisms that control adaptive immunity in order to develop immunotherapies that overcome the significant barriers associated with generating a durable immune response against tumor-associated antigens.

Stephen Jameson, Ph.D.
Mechanisms that regulate the development and maintenance of T cells in the body; T cell homeostasis in response to lymphopenia which offers an opportunity to enhance the function of residual T cells in lymphodepleted individuals, including cancer patients receiving radio- or chemotherapy

Marc Jenkins, Ph.D.
Investigation of CD4+ helper T and B cell activation in vivo by directly tracking antigen-specific cells, with the goal of achieving a basic understanding of lymphocyte signal transduction, proliferation, and differentiation so that these processes can be manipulated to improve vaccines and prevent autoimmunity

Matthew Mescher, Ph.D.
Investigation of the basic mechanisms involved in CD8 activation and tolerance induction and their application to murine models of tumor immunotherapy. These basic research findings have been translated to the clinic with clinical testing of large multivalent immunogen therapy.

Vaiva Vezys, Ph.D.
Investigation of how T cell tolerance to self-antigens, tumor antigens, and proteins from chronic infections is induced and maintained; development of methods for reversing established tolerance to these types of proteins and their translation to the clinic